Mr. Cecil’s Ribs Are Tickled by Manhattan Beach Economy

After initial delays, Mr. Cecil’s California Ribs has opened on Highland in Manhattan Beach, a perfect fit for the South Bay with its highly-praised barbecue and higher-than-South L.A. prices. This is Jonathan Burrow’s third location of the restaurant he founded in West L.A. back in 2000, fifteen years after helping produce the L.A. film classic Fletch. So what’s different this time around? Not a whole lot, as the décor and menu are practically the same. However, the pricey zip code has Burrows excited for this new link in his chain, telling us this morning, “Manhattan Beach is a great, special, come-together community, with a friendly local government that’s highly business-oriented. What excites me most about this location is that, shhhhhhh, no one in Manhattan Beach (are you sure nobody’s listening?) knows that we’re in a recession! Before signing my lease last spring, I walked around the entire city and didn’t see a single ‘For Lease’ or ‘For Rent’ sign. So I ‘m looking forward to a hugely successful business venture here.”